— The anti-abortion rally outside of the General Assembly this week had familiar themes of protecting unborn children and rolling back abortion rights.

But this week the activists' pleas were aimed in an unusual direction — at Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell.

At issue is hospital-style regulations for Virginia's 21 abortion clinics, a long-sought goal of the pro-life movement. Conservative lawmakers have pushed for tighter restrictions on abortion providers for years, arguing that the outpatient clinics should be treated like ambulatory centers.

Those efforts have repeatedly fallen flat, typically dying in the Democrat-controlled Senate amid fears that forcing clinics that provide first-trimester procedures to meet regulations designed for hospitals would close off access to legal abortions across the state.

Abortion-rights advocates estimate that 17 of the state's 21 abortion clinics would be shut down if the stricter rules were put in place, and argue that the clinics are currently regulated like medical offices where doctors perform plastic surgery.

Enter Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who issued an opinion in August saying that the Virginia Board of Health has the authority to put new rules in place immediately.

Conservative firebrand Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, asked for Cuccinelli's opinion on the subject and this week he helped lead the conservative rally that brought out about 200 people.

"Gov. McDonnell, you can tell your board to implement these regulations," Marshall said. "The time is now to act. You have an attorney general who will defend you."

York County resident Mike Prunty helped pulled together the "Rally for Life" in Richmond. Prunty runs the American Freedom Project and said he and other conservatives, including members of Hampton Roads for Life, are circulating petitions to encourage McDonnell to enact the regulations now.

Prunty said he was stunned when Cuccinelli and some pro-life organizations backed out of the rally, and he fears that the "establishment Republican elite" are influencing McDonnell too much.

"He built his career being a pro-life legislator, but when you get up here politics as they are takes over," Prunty said. "There's a whole strata of the Republican Party that doesn't want to get involved in social issues."

McDonnell bristled at the idea that that he's moving too slow.

"I have been a strong advocate of the pro-life position all of my 18 years in office," McDonnell said. But "I believe that we ought to pass legislation."

McDonnell noted that the 15-member Board of Health, which is appointed by the governor, has 11 appointees put in place by former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat.

Cuccinelli's spokesman, Brian Gottstein, said the attorney general remains committed to the pro-life movement, but opted not to attend the rally because it was designed to pressure McDonnell.

"While this may be a favored approach to getting a more immediate resolution to the abortion clinic issue," he said, "the expanded use of this power — generally reserved for emergency situations — would set a bad precedent, allowing future governors to abuse such a power."

Olivia L. Gans, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, said it was "despicable" to suggest that McDonnell isn't doing enough on abortion restrictions.

"Pro-lifers know they can count on him to do everything possible in the remaining three years of his term to help save unborn children's lives," she said.

But McDonnell's protests and explanations rang hollow with Prunty. After McDonnell's landslide election win in 2009 he was touted by Republican pundits as a potential national leader, Prunty said. But he said that chatter has shifted to Cuccinelli.

"They're not talking about Bob anymore, they're talking about Ken," Prunty said. "I'm a little disappointed in both of them. I'm a street activist. I don't like playing these games."